Whatever It Takes
by Chocolate X My Mouth
Summary: (credit to peterssquill on Tumblr!) An AU of Endgame - instead of Clint and Nat going to retrieve the Soul Stone, Steve goes alone instead. This leads to a confrontation he never imagined would happen again, a realization of his greatest fear, and him giving up something he never thought he'd need to let go... but what could that be? And what effects will it have on Steve?


**I saw this idea floating around on Tumblr that made SO MUCH SENSE but was also really really sad.**

**...so you know I had to write it. XD So if, by chance, you know who the original poster of this headcanon scenario is, please let me know so I can give proper credit! I feel so bad that I can't :(**

* * *

Six stones. Three teams. One mission.

Steve Rogers led the band of ten heroes heading up the stairs of the Avengers HQ time machine. And honestly, this was nerve-racking for most, if not all of them. They all had set goals: Bruce would go to retrieve the Time Stone, Clint and Natasha would go for the Mind Stone, Tony and Scott for the Space Stone, Thor and Rocket for the Reality Stone, Nebula and Rhodey for the Power Stone, and Steve for the Soul Stone.

It was a set goal. Everyone knew where they needed to go, and how to get there.

But no one really knew exactly what they were going to be facing - the unknown still was between them and the Stones, for the most part.

"One round trip each. No do-overs," Steve said. "Get the Stones, get back... Whatever it takes."

"Whatever it takes," Tony chorused.

"Huh, he's pretty good at that," Rocket nodded.

"Right?!" Scott chuckled, smiling for the first time in what felt like forever. It felt good to smile again.

"Okay, everyone ready? Firing her up," said Hulk from the control panel.

Natasha smirked, shuffling lightly with excitement. "See you all in a minute."

Clint chuckled lightly at his partner's joke - she was so nice to be around again. He had missed her. In fact, Natasha's joke seemed to lighten the mood around her - Tony and Steve seemed to get a kick out of it too.

And then, the machine fired up as Hulk stepped onto the platform. Their helmets clicked over them, and with a loud whirring sound, the teams were off.

* * *

"God be with you both," Steve said, shaking Rhodey's hand firmly.

"Just get that Stone and get outta there, Cap," Rhodey said, unable to hide the shake in his voice. This was uncharted territory for both of them, and Steve didn't blame him at all for being nervous. He was too.

"I would offer words of comfort, but... I'm not very good at that," Nebula admitted. "Just... good luck, Captain Rogers."

"You too, Nebula," said Steve, with his signature patriotic smile.

And as he took off in the ship, Rhodey gave the captain one last salute.

"He'll be alright, right?" asked Rhodey. "I mean, you're the one with the knowledge of alien planets here."

"There is only one recorded inhabitant of Vormir," Nebula said. "Let's just hope the two get along..."

* * *

Steve had to admit, it was weird being alone and flying a gigantic ship through space. Millions of miles ahead lay his destination - the Soul Stone. He had about a ten minute journey to make, and since the thing was set on auto-pilot, he decided it would be best if he looked at some old photos he still had.

The photo of Peggy in his little locket nearly made him cry. The thought that, even after all this, he would never see her again...

If he could, he would time-travel back to see her... though he didn't know how he could do that. These were the only Pym particles they had; unless he found some ulterior way, he would have to wait until he went Home to see her.

Maybe there was a way, though... he'd just have to wait and see.

And then, he found a photo of himself, Clint, and Natasha - it was a silly photo the three had taken back in 2012; he had never let go of it when he found out how to get it printed out. The picture made him smile... simpler times, those were.

After looking at the photos, he thought back to the memories he had made as Captain America...

There were very few things he'd give up that mantle for. It had shaped him. Made him who he was...

Right?

All these thoughts, however, were interrupted by the ship suddenly slowing down. He had arrived at Vormir.

He grabbed his shield, and prepared to touch down.

* * *

Steve landed fairly close to the mountain that seemed the most suspicious; therefore, by natural logic, it was probably the place that housed the Soul Stone.

He stepped off of the large ship, and began the slow trek up the mountain. The air was chilly and bitter; he wanted to retrieve the Stone as fast as he could. The old blue Captain America suit he was wearing, one of his first, wasn't really offering much protection from the harsh cold.

And then...

"Welcome... Steven, son of Sarah."

A ghastly voice made him jolt his head forward at a floating apparition before him. He tossed his shield forward at the unknown entity, but it flew right through it. It bounced off of the rock wall of the jagged mountain, and found itself back in Steve's hand.

After the initial shock wore off, he finally spoke. "Who are you?"

"I'm almost upset you do not remember... but, then again, I have changed dramatically since we last saw one another," said the entity. "Captain."

Realization hit Steve like a brick.

"Red Skull... son of a bitch."

"Be thankful I still hold a certain amount of respect for you, and that I do not refer to your mother by the same term," Red Skull said.

Steve shrugged off the comment. "I'm here for the Soul Stone. If you could be so kind, for once in your... existence, to hand it over, I'll be on my way. I know you don't want to see me any more than I do you."

Red Skull smirked. "If only it were that simple... and, what a shame you did not bring someone along to share the experience... Margaret and James didn't want to follow you, I presume?"

Steve's tears almost turned into frosty mist as they just barely escaped his eyes. Red Skull smirked, before turning his back to Steve and walking up the mountain.

The captain had no choice but to follow.

"So how do I know you haven't taken the Stone for your own evil deeds?" Steve asked, cringing at the fact he was trying to make conversation with a Nazi commander.

"When I held the Tesseract in my hand, it cast me out here," he admitted, "to guide others to a treasure I cannot possess... For I lack means of possessing the Stone."

"Means?" asked Steve.

"You'll see," Red Skull responded.

The darkness concealed his smirk; Steve had failed to bring the one thing necessary to obtain the Soul Stone - that which he loved most. Since it appeared that Peggy and Bucky were dead, to Red Skull, it seemed he had no hope of ever obtaining it.

He was doomed to fail from the start.

And the former commander was barely able to wait another minute to watch his worst enemy shrivel up in defeat...

Then, they arrived to the mountain top.

All of a sudden, the cold left... the air went back to normal...

But the drop wasn't any less intimidating.

"So... the Stone's down there?" Steve asked.

Red Skull smirked, and chuckled darkly.

Steve angrily turned to face the entity. "Answer me, Johann. Where... is... the Soul Stone?"

"Soul holds a special place among the Infinity Stones," Red Skull began. "You might say, it has a certain... wisdom to it. And therefore... it demands a sacrifice."

Steve's breath hitched in his throat as realization sank in.

"In order to obtain the Stone, you must lose that which you love most," he continued. "A soul... for a Soul."

Steve looked to the ground, appearing to be in defeat. He put his hand on his forehead, and his breath came out in a foggy mist. Red Skull smirked.

"You should not have come alone," the former general said. "You cannot possess the Stone without a sacrifice... and I know what you are thinking. You do not love me, so throwing me off the cliff will not work."

The captain took a seat on the rock ground, and was clearly deep in thought... to Red Skull, sixty years of doting on those who sought the Soul Stone all seemed so worth it now that he was able to hand rejection to the one person he never imagined it would be possible to do to.

But then...

Steve got up.

"Don't think about throwing yourself off, Rogers," said Red Skull. "It doesn't work like that either."

"I wasn't planning on it."

Steve's words nearly sent a chill through the Stonekeeper... what did he mean? What was he going to do?

Suddenly, Steve removed his gloves. And then, his boots.

And then, he unzipped the zipper keeping his suit on.

He was in normal civilian clothes when his suit fell to the ground. He picked up the quantum transmitter, and clipped it back onto his wrist.

"What are you doing?" Red Skull asked, genuinely curious... this had never been done before.

Steve then placed his shield on the left arm of the sprawled out costume, and he strapped it on tightly to ensure it would stick on there. He then neatly placed the gloves and boots on the chest part of the suit, and folded it neatly.

He now held the insignia of Captain America in his arms.

"Before I do what I am about to do," Steve said, "I need you to be sure you know what I'm doing here. You do know, right?"

Red Skull appeared to have lost the ability to speak...

And yet, still, he nodded.

Steve nodded back, and walked over to the cliff...

With tears in his eyes...

He threw the suit off the cliff.

He hadn't made a living sacrifice... but it was still a soul for a Soul.

What had he done, exactly?

The universe seemed to know.

He had given up being Captain America.

Steve almost heard the suit fall to the ground, and not physically - something inside told him that the deed was done. That the universe was satisfied.

A bright overhead light was the last thing he saw.

* * *

Steve slowly began to wake up in a daze... what the hell had just happened?

He then sat upright, and felt the coolness of water dripping down from the back of his head and hair. His clothes were wet... and yet, he felt completely dry. How was this possible?

And then... an object manifested in his hand. He also saw an orange glow - the Soul Stone...

But when he looked down at his hand, something looked different...

Actually, almost everything looked different.

He was skinny again.

He didn't feel as strong as he once did. He felt... almost weak.

Tears escaped from his eyes as he looked off to the red and purple skies of Vormir, and he uttered words that only the wind would hear.

"I'm sorry..."

He was apologizing to everyone who he knew he would let down with his sacrifice... the world didn't want Steve Rogers. It wanted Captain America.

And this was his last thought before he pressed the button on his wrist that sent him back through time.

* * *

The ten had just returned from collecting the Stones - and they all were clearly full of adrenaline. Clint and Natasha were eagerly jumping and hugging each other out of joy, Tony and Bruce were high-five-ing, Thor and Rocket seemed pretty excited (was that Mjolnir?!), Nebula seemed... a little off, but at least Rhodey seemed happy.

But Steve...

A sad smile adorned his face.

And when the eyes fell on him, the whole room fell into a hush.

"What the hell happened to you, Captain?" asked Rocket. "You look... skinnier."

Steve looked down... he hadn't lost all of his physique, but he looked... average. You'd never have guessed he was ever a super-soldier if this was your first time looking at him.

"Captain, what happened?!" Scott exclaimed, clearly concerned for his hero.

"The Stone... it demanded a sacrifice," Steve explained solemnly. "A soul... for a Soul. So, I did what I had to do. I made that sacrifice... I had to lose that which I loved most."

Faint gasps and looks of horror went around the room - mainly because of the fact that Steve actually did it.

He gave up being Captain America so that the universe could have hope of being restored.

"One life cannot stand in the way of trillions," said Steve.

There was now complete silence around the quantum tunnel. Stares were shared, glances were passed, and above all... the air was filled with confusion.

"No."

A single word from Natasha caused everyone to look up towards the hero.

"You may have given up being Captain America," she said firmly, "but just because you did that doesn't mean you aren't still him."

"What?" Steve asked. "N-Nat, I gave it up. I had to."

"You gave up the _super soldier,_" she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But as for Captain America... from what I can see, he's right here with us."

Steve let out a faint gasp.

"Yeah, I'm with Black Widow," Scott said. "And, y'know, as a matter of fact - you giving up your title to save the universe... gosh, that is _such _a Captain America thing to do."

"You are still Steve Rogers," Clint said, "and as far as I'm concerned, you're the same as when you were when we started this journey through time."

"Only Captain America would have the audacity... no, the nobility," Tony spoke up, "to do such a stupid thing - like go to retrieve an Infinity Stone alone. And that's all the proof I need that you would need your heart ripped out to separate you from Captain America."

"You still look great, Cap!" Thor said, laughing and giving a thumbs-up.

Steve's bottom lip was quivering out of... well, he couldn't exactly define it.

But he gave his group one last smile before he finally broke, and with hands in his head, audible sobs began coming from his throat. They weren't of sadness, however... what had he done to deserve such a loving and caring team?

"Hey, hey... shh, shh shh," Natasha said, wrapping her arms around him and offering him her shoulder. "Its okay... its okay."

Scott and Clint joined in, wrapping their arms around Steve and Natasha. Tony moved in to get next to Clint and Nat, and Thor excitedly rushed over (still holding Mjolnir) to join in. Rhodey and Hulk then moved over as well, and put their arms around everyone currently in the group hug around Steve. Rocket awkwardly patted Thor's leg, not really sure of what to do. He was too small to hug; and Nebula... well, she was Nebula.

When the hug eventually disbanded, the Avengers gathered together still stood by Steve nobly.

"C'mon, Captain America," Natasha said, patting his shoulder. "I have a spare mega-stash of tissues stored away in the office."

"T-Thank you, Nat," Steve smiled through his remaining tears.

"I can cook us dinner while the nerds do their work with the stones," Clint said, smiling and putting his arm around Steve's other side.

Tony smiled as he watched Clint, Natasha, Scott, Thor, Rhodey, and Steve walk off towards the office, leaving the scientists to do their work as they went off to comfort their friend.

Or, should he say... Hawkeye, Black Widow, Ant-Man, Point Break, War Machine...

And Captain America.

* * *

**Did I get ye emotional? Its okay if I didn't - I've not written a real tear-jerker in a while so I am out of practice. XD **

**But either way, I hope ye enjoyed the story! Did you like this Endgame AU? Natasha lives, everyone! (see it as a sibling relationship/romantic Romanogers, however you will. I leave it up to you for interpretation :D) And Clint is a good bro to Steve. So are Scott and Tony. And Thor, Rhodey, Hulk, and Rocket's trying okay. Nebula... well this follows Endgame continuity. XD**

**Anyway, PLEASE leave a review and let me know your thoughts! They always make me so happy to see! :D Thanks for reading guys! See you next time! Love you all!**


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